Building the case for wildfire mitigation around communities

The fire in Logan Lake started like so many others in British Columbia’s worst wildfire season on record – a smouldering campfire, not fully extinguished, sparked flames that spread across the forest floor. But unlike other blazes that have grown catastrophically, engulfing homes, forests and farmland, the Logan Lake fire in June was kept to a half-hectare. The reason, a local official says, is because the town has conducted extensive wildfire mitigation, in spite of a provincial system he describes as under-funded, burdensome and unfair. …”The amount of fuel management to protect communities was minuscule relative to the scale of the challenge,” said Bob Simpson, Quesnel mayor and a former NDP forestry critic in the legislature.